Bare Necessities.. Living Water

This is Andy Thomas from the Masculine Journey Podcast where we discover what it means to be a wholehearted man. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. We share stories of men and women who take what they love and let God turn their passion into kingdom pursuits.

Now, live from the Truth Booth, your host, Robby Dilmore. We are loaded for bear today on the Christian Card. We're loaded for bear today on kingdom pursuits.

Apparently, I turned off my mic instead of... Welcome to kingdom pursuits. This was a first. Never had that situation happen, but we got some new equipment.

We're still getting used to, so that's okay. We will figure it out as we go, but we are loaded for bear today on kingdom pursuits. And first up, we have Tom Cortado with the Gospel for Asia. Tom, I hope I got your name right. You sure did, Rob. We appreciate that.

Got it right the first time. That is so wonderful. And Gospel for Asia, the Truth Network is partnering with you guys. Again, I'm so excited about this as we're talking about clean water, which is a real need right now, right?

Oh, incredibly so. I think it's safe to say that water is desperately in need, and even throughout the world right now, I know that it's getting more and more scarce, even in this country. But throughout Asia, and of course, we're working in Africa now as well, we see a tremendous need for clean water that literally saves people's lives, prevents diseases, dysentery, and all kinds of bad bugs that really could get over and over again. And so it's our heart to just provide clean water to as many people as we can, obviously as quickly as we can, and it's amazing how many doors God opens to bring the love of Jesus Christ to a tangible way. You say, hey Jesus loves you, and here's clean water, so we'll put a Jesus well in a community that has an incredible need for clean water, and God just does all the rest, opens the doors, and so many people embrace the love of Jesus Christ. We're excited to see what God's going to do in the coming years, even in spite of lockdowns, the coronavirus, everything that everybody has gone through the last couple of years. It's really amazing that God has still worked throughout Asia and Africa to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and to see their needs met through Gospel for Asia and through other ministries as well. But it's our heart, you know, we were able to provide clean water back in 2020, just in 2020, even during the coronavirus time, we were able to provide clean water to 38 million people.

Think about that. It's amazing to see what the doors of God have opened. We want to do so much more. We appreciate the listeners of Truth Network. We partner with you guys often for the Critter Campaign and for Clean Water and for other efforts, and we're excited that your listeners are making a difference. They are making a difference for the Kingdom of God for each other.

Yeah, that is so cool. And as always, with Gospel for Asia, if you go to TruthNetwork.com, if you're a regular listener of the Truth Network, you know we have this amazing website with all sorts of resources that are unbelievable. But TruthNetwork.com has got a wonderful link.

We'll take you right to, you know, how to pray for and if the Lord leads to give to the idea here of clean water through the Gospel for Asia. So, second up today, we have a good friend of mine who has been with us many times. It's Michael Austin. He's with the Christian History Institute. Welcome, Michael. Michael, can you hear me? Okay, we got another challenge. It's all right, we can call Michael back.

We may have lost Michael, but Michael being with the Christian History Institute and the idea of history says, you know, you know I had to do my riddles of the Kingdom of Pursuit, so speaking of history. Now the fun begins. Now it's time to play shenanigans. All right, so it is time to play shenanigans. That's what, for those of you wondering where Robbie got the word.

Well, when I was a little kid, they had that show on TV, Shenanigans, and so, you know, I like to play shenanigans, you know, that Christian that we do. And so we're going to get to our riddles now. So, speaking of history, how did, Christian, if you ever wonder about this, how did Louis XIV feel after completing the palace at Versailles? What do you think?

I have no idea, Robbie. What did he do? He felt baroque. That's what he felt. There you go, he did. So Michael, are you with us now?

I am with you. All right, we do have Michael with the Christian History Institute as well as Tom Cortado, but we're speaking of history today on my riddles. So what did, here's your next one. What did Alexander the Great and Kermit the Frog have in common? Michael, do you got any idea? Hmm, let me think about that. Alexander the Great and Kermit the Frog have what in common?

I don't know too much about that. Duane is looking over here like he knows that their middle name is the same. Alexander the Great and Kermit the Frog. And you can laugh too, Taun. That's a little funny, isn't it?

I actually was going to say the same thing about the same middle name. How about this one? I know you're a history buff, Michael, so you should be able to get this. What was the biggest hit movie in ancient Greece?

You got any ideas on that one? The biggest hit movie in ancient Greece. Christian, you got an idea? Gladiator, I don't know. What do you think, Michael? Troy Story. That's what it was, Troy Story. That makes sense, doesn't it?

I knew it would. Okay, maybe you can do better with this one. So here we go. Why is England the wettest country in the world? I bet you're wondering.

You've probably wondered that for a long time. Why is England the wettest country in the world? Do you know that one, Michael?

Hmm. The wettest country in the world. Yeah, England.

Is it because of all the rain or the tea? You got the one word in there right. That is, the Queen of England has rained for 70 years. That is a good one. And one last, we're going to go back to the Roman Empire.

So here you go, Michael. Another ancient history question. How was the Roman Empire cut in half?

How was the Roman Empire cut in half? What do you think, Christian? You got any ideas? Like a cake. I don't know. And a pair of Caesars.

So there's some groaning out there somewhere, we know. And at the end of those shenanigans, and those were shenanigans today, we actually do have a Bible riddle for you to call in and win. It's sort of a Bible riddle anyway. So if you can get this one, which is, what kind of lighting did Noah use on the ark? 866-348-7884.

What kind of lighting did Noah use on the ark? 866-344-TRUTH. And if you can answer that, Christian, tell them what they'll win.

They're going to win one of our fabulous prizes from the Kingdom Pursuit Prize Vault. There you go. All you got to do is call in and tell us what kind of lighting did Noah use on the ark. 866-348-7884.

866-344-TRUTH. And I enjoyed my shenanigans today, I always do. And thank you both Michael and Ton for putting up with that.

But it's just something, you know, that we get to do here at Kingdom Pursuits. I'm glad we were up for the cast. Oh yes, yes you were Michael.

And I'm glad that you're back with us. And so Michael, last night I was just flipping through different things I could see. And I saw on TV, and I saw a special that the Christian History Institute did on C.S. Lewis. It was based on mere Christianity.

Were you familiar with that one? Well the issue must be a big break back. Well we're going to have to go to a break. When we come back we're going to find out more from Michael Austin with Christian History Institute and Ton with Gospel for Asia.

In the meantime, go to TruthNetwork.com and check out what you can do for waters. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the Kingdom and we're so blessed today to have with us Ton Cortado with Gospel for Asia and Michael Austin with the Christian History Institute. And wow we have all kinds of callers who have some idea about Noah's lighting on his ark which is amazing. So all those that are calling please stay on the line because you know I want to talk to you. Even if somebody else guesses your answer I still want to hear from you. So first off we have Christine is in Durham, North Carolina. Christine you're on Kingdom Pursuits. Good morning. Good morning.

What have you got for us? What kind of lighting did you think Noah had on the ark? I believe that Noah had flood lighting. He really did. He really did. It's really cool if you ever study the Hebrew of the big window that he had there's some indication in those letters that it actually brought forth its own light so that they didn't have to go through all those dark nights and the dark storms.

I don't know. What do you think Michael? Was that good history?

It's definitely flood lighting. There's no doubt about that. So we're going to get you a book from the Kingdom Pursuits prize wall. Thanks for calling in Christine. God bless you. Thank you so much. God bless you guys.

All right. Bye bye. Let's see we got Scott is in Winston-Salem.

Scott you're on Kingdom Pursuits. Good morning. Good morning Robbie. Great show. Well thank you. I really really really enjoyed Andrew's weather. There you go. Andrew's weather forecasts are classic.

They really are. The moonlight now. Wasn't it a life form of shining snow? That's right. And I like the moonlight idea.

He had that too. That was good Scott. I like that. You deserve something from the Kingdom Pursuits prize for that answer.

So I appreciate it very much. God bless. Didn't you love Miss J singing? On Christian Kargai did you hear her sing? I did. Wasn't that awesome?

That was awesome but I really enjoyed Andrew's weather too. Okay. Very informative. Speaking of Mrs. J she apparently knows what kind of lighting Noah had too so we're going to get to her in a second. God bless you. Thanks Scott. I appreciate you calling in. So we got Mrs. J herself on the phone now. Miss J what did you think about Noah's lighting?

I wanted to give it a shout out and say it was the sun. Oh wow he had the S-O-N. Oh you blew me away. Oh what a great answer. She had the S-O-N. Oh man. I wish I thought of that. He really is the Mr. Sun.

But I love Mr. K just last. You deserve a double prize from the prize vault for that answer. That is just out of this world.

Literally out of this world. Thank you Mrs. J. I appreciate so much you blessed me so much this morning. God bless. Have a great week. Thank you. Bye bye.

Bye. One of my favorite, favorite, favorite things about the audience of the Truth Network is the way that they pray. And so one of the reasons that actually I'm so delighted to have Taun on with us today is we could be praying for all those who desperately, desperately need water in Africa and the different places where they're getting that. But also my friend Michael Austin with Christian History Institute. Part of the reason why I wanted to have him on today is he had called me yesterday and told me about his diagnosis.

It's stage four cancer, specifically pancreatic cancer. And so Michael, would it be all right if everybody just pray with you right this second? Would you be willing to let us do that for you? Please.

Please. Thank you. So if everybody listening would just join me because this is a difficult, difficult diagnosis. But Lord, it's over cancer. We know that. I know that very personally, as Michael knows. And so Jesus, thank you for Michael. I thank you for his opportunity to partner with you in ministry in so many different ways. And I just come on his behalf right now, Lord. I know that you are going to heal him one way or the other. But I just pray that you would comfort him, that you would give him a song for this season in his life, help him to know where you would have him sing and what you would have him do during these times, that you would comfort his family, comfort him through this. And if it be your will, Lord, that you would heal him in such a way that he would be able to share that testimony with so many that would give them hope that are also in difficult places. Lord, I thank you again for his life, and thank you for all those that are listening right now that are praying with us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

So wow. And so Michael, you know, what have you got, what has God got you working on right now? Lots of prayer, I must say that. I have never experienced in my life so many people praying for me, and that has been a revelation.

Excuse me. I am so grateful for the prayer of the saints. The prayer, we learn in the Bible that the prayer of a righteous one availeth much, and boy have I ever experienced that. People all over the world are praying for me. I'm amazed at how many there are that reach out to me with prayer. It's changed my prayer life. My prayer has revolved around, Father, if you will it, you can heal me. You can take all of this away.

Nevertheless, I will be done. He has encouraged me and shown me that all I want to pray for is for His will, whatever that is, because you know what, James, in his wonderful book, James 1, reminds us that when we are in trial or temptation or stress, such as this might occur, treat it all joy. So that is what has happened, given me that joy, and it is so incredibly wonderful. I'm so encouraged by Tom's message, because the current issue of Christian History magazine is of a subject of healing, and he mentioned that this is the message, and this was the method of our Savior from the very beginning. He healed people, He touched people, He entered people's lives. Isn't it wonderful to read the Gospels from that perspective? And this is now happening all over the world, because ministries are bringing healing, and this issue actually changed my opinion, if you want to put it that way.

My orientation to the healing gospel ministries around the world, I am so grateful for them, and also for emphasizing the healing power of our Savior, which is what brings most people to Him. You're so right, Michael. And Tom, I know that you've got stories that our listeners just love.

Can you walk us into an individual story you're familiar with as far as this clean water? By the way, Michael, if it was okay, I'm going to add you to our Gospel for Asia prayer list, and our staff will be saying the healing. Thank you, my brother. This is how it happens. This is how people come to me. Exactly.

Thank you. You know, he has one interesting story, the head of our medical mission was saying, he went to one area of India, and it was very dry, very arid, just really hot, and our GFA worker there, our pastor, was known in the community. He would go around and just ask people, how come he prayed for them, and what needs do they have, and would they like to come to the church and all that. He went, he was obviously parched, he went to the local well, which didn't really have clean water. And he went there, and there was a woman getting water for her family, and he said what he always says, how can I pray for you? And he said, you know, my son is always sick, and the doctors have said it's because he doesn't have any clean water, and if there's clean water, then it heals. And so he prayed for her, prayed for her son obviously, and went back to his church, and they started praying, and through that fellowship, we were able to put a Jesus well in that community. And now, you know, the woman and her son are both followers of Jesus Christ, and the child is healthy because he has access to clean water. And it's just, you know, it goes on and on.

And we see this so many times that it's just the smallest thing. People can give, it takes five dollars to provide enough clean water for a family of four for 20 years. It's our privilege to bring that kind of healing power to these communities. You know, a Jesus well serves a community of about 300, and those things just last and last and last. And obviously what also happens is our workers will stand there with the word of God, next to the Jesus well, and say, here's clean water that's temporary, but let me share with you the clean water, the water of Jesus Christ. Oh, I've heard of some of the unbelievable horror of what's going on in India with COVID.

And can you imagine how horrible, I mean, literally, I have a friend that was part of a group of 400 pastors in India, and they're down to 20 from 400. And the clean water has got so much to do with what's going on that. So again, you go to truthnetwork.com. There you can find out more about you to see the clean water. And wow, $1,400 will actually drill one of these wells.

Or if you've got $140, obviously you're 10% of the way there. It's all there at truthnetwork.com. When we come back, we've got more with Michael Austin, Christian History Institute, and Tom Cortado. You're listening to The Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And we're so blessed to have with us today Michael Austin with Christian History Institute and Tom Cortado with Gospel for Asia.

They are digging wells out there in desperately needed places when there's so much going on in the world. What an opportunity we have to partner with them here at The Truth Network and allow it here at truthnetwork.com, where you can just take part of, like you said, $5. How many days did you say, Tom, it provides? Well, $5 will provide enough clean water for a family of four for about 20 years, as long as that's been warm.

That's amazing. So wow, you can really make $1, which you only buy a loaf of bread. I mean, $4 buying a loaf of bread these days, so $5, you know, you can buy water for all those years for a family of four. It's just amazing, and it's interesting.

I was interviewing a gentleman in Afghanistan yesterday, and they were talking about all the millions of refugees that they have over there. I'm sure you guys are involved with the Gospel of Asia, and how, you know, literally for like $40, you can feed that whole family for an entire month over there. Oh my goodness, yeah.

During the COVID lockdown, we were able to buy enough food for a whole month for $2. It's amazing. It's the power that God gives us to create the deal. Yeah, and so it's so neat how God moves in and provides these things. And one of the ways he does that is through our prayers and our calling out. And so I'm wondering if you've got another story for—I love these stories, Tom. Have you got another story along the water line?

Well, yeah, it's amazing what God does. You know, many times there's families who can't send their kids to school because children are, you know, constantly sick because of dirty water. And there was this opportunity that, again, our medical missions went into a small community way up north of Asia.

And what they do is they go in and they try to, you know, find out what are the needs of the community, and then they have doctors with them and all of that. And he went in, our leader went in, and looked at their source of water and said, you know, where do you get your drinking water? And they pointed to this, you know, large pond that was fairly, you know, fairly deep, and they had water buffalo standing in there and all that other stuff. He says, that's your drinking water? He says, yeah, we get that drink, we get that clean, we also fish in there. And he goes, where do you go, you know, through the toilet?

He goes, do you see that log over at the right side? On that side we go to the toilet, but on the other side we don't because we don't want to get, you know, contaminated. And they just didn't know. So, you know, he did some, obviously some sanitary training that we were able to go in and do several wells and provide water filters. Miles had water filters as well. Just to, you know, to educate folks on how they can keep their families healthy and strong and kids can go to school and see if the parents can work.

It literally transforms the community to have clean water. And when we know that throughout the world, you know, whatever the numbers are, you know, are broad, but conservatively, every 23 seconds a child dies of a waterborne disease somewhere in the world. And we can prevent that. And that's our heart. And, of course, that's Jesus.

That's what you do to the least of these you've done to me. And we just want to go out and give people the opportunity to say, I want to be Jesus. In Jesus' hands and tears and touch the lives of those who were so desperately weak.

Yeah. And I think about how needed to be, to be in heaven someday. And this person walks up and says, you know, that well you dug, you know, it made a difference in getting me living water.

It opened up the door for that family. And when that happens, it reaches generation after generation after generation after generation. Just like our generations, right, Michael? And history proves all that out, doesn't it?

So I'm so always so thankful for the Christian History Institute and what you guys do. Well, you know, when it comes to water, I happen to live in a RV. So wherever I go, I have to pay attention to the water supply. And Tom is doing that, helping people all over the world do that. But we have these water issues right here at home. And it's very critical.

I just, you know, thank you, Tom, for what you are doing. And the incredible, you know, as a young person, I spent a lot of time in India. I actually followed an Indian guru. And the well, the well and the water was so important. We, you know, we lived in a dirt village, what we call the dirt village.

There were no, you know, macadam roads. And out in the wilderness, really, in what is called an ashram or a monastery. And water was absolutely critical.

I learned there, you know, the impact on people's lives that you are describing and explaining. And, of course, in India, if anybody visits India, they're likely to get dysentery. And that's going to be from poor water quality.

And that's just the reality even today. So water is so critical. And, of course, there's so many wonderful, incredible examples of how water is described in the Bible as the source of life. And Jesus being the living water. He's the living bread. Our Father in Heaven gave us each day our daily bread. That daily bread is our Savior and the water. He said, I am the living bread and I am the living water. So He is life. And what an extraordinary way to reach people with the gospel.

What better way than through the vehicle and the importance of water in our lives. Yeah, it's even from Miriam's well day. You know, or when Moses threw the tree in the water. So, you know, it's spectacular. And what are some of the neat things from your standpoint, Ton, that you're seeing at Gospel for Asia right now?

It's exciting to see what God is continuing to do and continuing to grow and continuing to see. Fellowships started all over Asia and now, of course, in Africa. We're able to do hospitals. You know, even though COVID has struck so badly, as Michael would know in India, it has set back India maybe 10 years. As far as progress goes. And we've been able to go door to door and provide food, clean water, PPE. We gave away over one million masks just in 2020. And we were able to feed people as they were walking back from the big cities that, you know, they can't work anymore.

Day laborers can't work. Had to get back to their villages. We had those foods, we had those big water, and we were able to set up, you know, kitchens along the road and just feed them. And just give them clean water and pray for them. And allow God to work in their lives. So, yeah, it's exciting to see, you know, what God is doing in spite of what the enemy means for evil. So many times God, you know, finds a way and changes lives. And as Michael knows, you know, there's such a desperate need there. And I appreciate Michael also, you know, your testimony. But it's like having been there and realizing now that, you know, they need the love of Christ. Yeah, and it's wonderful to know, you know, both of you, Michael and Ton, to put a face with this. Because, you know, we know that there's this horrible need. Like yesterday, when I was sitting there with that man who literally lives in Afghanistan, and I could see the look in his eyes. And you got a whole different sense of these people that are in desperate need when you see somebody who was just with him yesterday. And this stuff is real. And our prayers are so desperately needed, and our resources are so desperately needed.

And, you know, whatever way that God puts it on our hearts to help. All you have to do is go to www.KingdomPursuits.com, or excuse me, go to www.TruthNetwork.com. It's there.

Truth Network is the link there to clean water. You'll see it, obviously, with Gospel for Asia. Click on that and see how what Lord would have you do along those lines. We'll be right back with a little bit more from Michael Austin and Ton Cortado with Gospel for Asia, and Michael's with Christian History Institute.

I love those guys. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the Kingdom and how fun we're— I just love doing this show with my friends. We've got Michael Austin with the Christian History Institute and Ton Cortado with Gospel for Asia. And, you know, every day a new challenge comes on all of us, and I often think, you know, how we have an opportunity to share our blessings.

And as we do, we kind of get our minds off ourselves and onto God. However that works, because I know Michael, come Monday morning, you've got an awful chemotherapy treatment coming your way, don't you? Well, I do.

Not this Monday, but the following. And, you know, it's very interesting. After each one of these treatments— of course, they're pushing a whole lot of poison through my system— it wipes me out. And you know what they tell me to do? Drink more water. Really?

Oh yeah. Yeah, because what happens when you have toxins inside the body, and of course they're putting these things into me, chemo, on purpose, the way to process that, the way to recover from that, because the whole body is affected by that. They're trying to target, you know, cancer cells, but in doing so they're introducing this to my whole body. So the whole body is getting wracked with these poisons. And this is how important water is, because all you can do is flush your system with more water. I can't tell you how many situations come up when you're ill and you're looking for help.

The solution is more water. And I think that's a great segue into something I wanted to bring up. For those who don't know, you know, as Michael used to follow the ashram and those people in India, the living water came and saved him, just like Robbie used to follow the people in Scientology, and the living water came and said to follow him. And so it's kind of amazing. I've always thought my friend Michael and I, we both came out of some really weird places in order to get to be where we are.

But Michael, isn't that cool? Praise the Lord for water. And also praise the Lord for prayer. Now we've talked a little bit about our prayer, and I want to share something that I've recently discovered. And this is in, as you might imagine in my situation, I have been studying Revelation daily, and I discovered Revelation 5-8. In that verse, our heavenly Father on his throne is surrounded by four creatures, and those creatures are each holding a harp, the golden bowl filled with incense, which are the prayers of the righteous one.

Get a hold of this picture. Our Heavenly Father, Creator of heaven and earth, is collecting our prayers in golden bowls of incense. So I want people to know that their prayers are being collected by our Father. He's not forgetting these prayers. He knows all of the prayers that we have spoken, because they are in these golden bowls. Revelation 5-8, so appreciative of prayer and the power of prayer, and of course what we pray for is our Father's will. But know that you have mentioned on a couple of occasions that someone in heaven is going to show up and say, you know, I really appreciated what you did in supplying us with water. I appreciate what you did in praying for us. Our Father never forgets any of these things that we do for one another. We are enjoying slices and glimpses of the kingdom when we pray for one another and when we provide living bread and living water. That's beautiful.

Tawn, I just got a couple minutes left. I want to make sure you got said anything that you wanted to get said on today's show. I really appreciate what Michael had to say. You know, prayer is the lifeblood of our ministry. We started with prayer. We pray daily in our office. We have all-night prayer meetings.

Every quarter we take a Friday and it's a day of prayer and fasting. And as Michael said, we know that everything moves on prayer. Everything moves on our knees and we can provide and do all of this stuff. But as a ministry, our heart and our passion is to seek the Lord in prayer, seek the Lord for His guidance and wisdom. And I just appreciate what Michael said. Yes, the prayers are being collected and who knows, when we get to heaven it's going to be amazing.

We together can toss our crowns before Him because He deserves it all. And I just wanted to say, make a comment. I know you guys came from different backgrounds. I grew up with Jehovah's Witness.

Oh, wow! And I came to know the Lord. It's amazing how God just reaches down and judges our lives. But yeah, it's such a blessing.

And you know, today is a day at work and we don't know when night's coming. The Lord certainly does. But now is the time to make a difference in the lives of so many precious people. And prayer is the most powerful thing you can do. You say, you know, whatever you can do, pray.

Well, thank you both. Wow, I'm going to laugh about that all my way. Jehovah's Witness is a Scientologist. And what would you call yourself, Michael? Hindu. Hindu. What a great Christian show we had. Thank you guys. God bless. And wow, thank you for listening to The Truth Network today. And again, go to truthnetwork.com to share what you can, even your prayers for Michael and Gospel for Asia by all means. And now stay tuned. You've got so much truth coming at you, encouraging prayer, followed by the masculine journey. So much truth on The Truth Network. This is the Truth Network.